The Denial of Death

Product Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the why of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie: man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than thirty years after its publication. The Denial of Death was the last book Dr. Becker published before his premature death in 1974. His insightful and powerful ideas are sure to last for generations.

Review

The Denial of Death is a great book-one of the few great books of the twentieth or any other century.-- "Albuquerque Journal Book Review"

"It is hard to overestimate the importance of this book; Becker succeeds brilliantly in what he sets out to do, and the effort was necessary."-- "Chicago Sun-Times"

A brave work of electrifying intelligence and passion, optimistic and revolutionary, destined to endure.-- "New York Times Book Review"

A magnificent psycho-philosophical synthesis which ranks among the truly important books of the year. Professor Becker writes with power and brilliant insight.-- "Publishers Weekly"

There are no sound effects, nor is there any crackle of dialogue, but I listened five times. Never strident or hectoring, Raymond Todd has a voice you can enjoy, even when you don't yet quite understand.-- "AudioFile"

About the Author

Dr. Ernest Becker (1924-1974) received a PhD in cultural anthropology from Syracuse University. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State College, and Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is survived by his wife, Marie, and a foundation that bears his name, The Ernest Becker Foundation.

Raymond Todd is an actor and director in the theater as well as a poet and documentary filmmaker. He plays jazz trombone for the Leatherstocking quartet, an ensemble that gets its name from one of his favorite Blackstone narrations, The Deerslayer. Todd lives in New York.

From AudioFile

Finishing this book, which won the Pulitzer in 1974, shortly before his own premature death, Becker called it "a bid for the peace of my scholarly soul." There are no sound effects, nor is there any crackle of dialogue, but I listened five times. Never strident or hectoring, Raymond Todd has a voice you can enjoy, even when you don't yet quite understand. "The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal," Becker writes. It's not that we're horny and don't know it, as Freud postulated. We're going to die and pretend not. To understand is to free humans from their blindest and most destructive impulses. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine